Energy Orchard "Stop The Machine" 1991***

Kolimbithra Beach, Tinos

Platter of local cheeses in Tinos ouzeri "st'Alani"

If any of you visit my blog often, you've noticed that I post with admirable regularity - I, for one, admire myself for it, since I know how demanding it is. I have to keep a fast pace of course, as I have a lot of ground to cover. Lately though, I've been away on vacation and lack the time (or discipline) to sit in front of the laptop. Last week I was in Italy and yesterday we arrived to the Greek island of Tinos, one of the less touristic in the Aegean. Except, that is, on August 15th when the island gets overrun by pilgrims from all over the Christian Orthodox world flocking to the island's church to see the miracle-performing icon of Panaghia (i.e. the Holy Virgin). I'll be gone by then and spare myself the sight of the commercialization of faith. Anyway, my days now consist of swimming, lying on the beach and delving into the island's cuisine. It's incredible how, in a country with dozens of islands (I'm purposely limiting myself to the medium-to-big ones) each has its own distinct customs and cuisine. Yesterday, I was served a platter with cheeses impossible to taste outside the island, as they are too rare to standardize, package and market. Most of them were completely new to my taste buds and only one was similar to the famous graviera produced in the nearby island of Naxos. The incredible variety and taste of Greek cheeses can easily compare to e.g. French ones, but remains to this day an international secret despite the millions of tourists visiting the country every summer. All that foreigners know is feta, and even then they don't realize how many different kinds exist or that not all white soft cheese is feta - certainly not the tasteless white blocks made from cow's milk sold as such in the Netherlands. Here's a tip: Next time you're in Greece, walk into a super market and buy some unknown cheeses. Even better, ask for the local specialties at any village in the islands or mainland and you'll acquaint yourself with culinary experiences unavailable to city dwellers - not to mention foreigners. All of these have nothing to do with today's CD which is Energy Orchard.

Their name was vaguely familiar to me, as was the singer's name (Bap Kennedy), but what really convinced me, other than the fact I found it for price  €1 on a market stall, was the producer: the name of Glyn Jones commands the respect, as he's worked with Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, The Who, Dylan, Clapton, The Clash and even The Beatles. Though not really worth mentioning in the same sentence with those giants (notice how I didn't?) Energy Orchard were, on the basis of this evidence, a pretty solid rock band with a nice twist: incorporating elements of their homeland's (Northern Ireland) traditional music. "Machine" is their sophomore effort from 1992 and carries echoes of Van Morrison, Tom Petty, U2 and the Waterboys. Thankfully these influences are all successfully assimilated, the music never sounding derivative but neither completely original. Opener "(When I'm With You I'm) All Alone" is a potent soul rocker with hard rock guitars a la Crazy Horse which is followed by a nice cover of Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" with a strong 60's folk rock vibe. Another garagey rocker follows in "How the West Was Won", possibly the fastest song of the CD. After that, the band's Irish blood takes over, resulting in a string of lyrical folk rockers: "My Cheating Heart" sports a nice fiddle intro and is more than a little indebted to Van Morrison's celtic soul sound, while "Pain, Heartbreak and Redemption", "Slieveban Drive" and "Blue Eyed Boy" add a bit of The Waterboys' Big Music, augmented with a gospel choir (the first) and fiddle (the second)."Stop the Machine" is a blues rocker with harmonica and "Three Days on the Tear" an upbeat folk song with lots of fiddle in the Waterboys/Pogues style. The rest ("Tell Your Mother", "All Your Jewels" and "Little Paleface") are all ballads, often with harmonica, Hammond organ and other flourishes. In my opinion, the band suffered from a lack of direction, opting for a clean pop production and including generic rockers like the title track rather than fully embracing their folk instincts. Nevertheless I found the album quite enjoyable and I am now persuaded to delve deeper into the work of Bap Kennedy and his band.

**** for (When I'm With You I'm) All Alone, My Cheating Heart

*** for It's All Over Now, Baby Blue, How the West Was Won, Pain, Heartbreak and Redemption, Slieveban Drive, Blue Eyed Boy, Stop the Machine, Three Days on the Tear, All Your Jewels, Little Paleface

** for Tell Your Mother